One Day At A Time
by kinseyjo
Summary: EO as always. Started out as a songfic. Don't know what's going to happen really yet, so how about just read it? Rated M cuz I know me and I know if you guys want me to continue, it'll get smutty. :
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: This started out as a songfic for the Patty Loveless song "Lonely Too Long," but we all know what a stubborn man Elliot Stabler can be. He sort of took over and started being funny and witty and I just let him get away with it. The story got a little out of hand. R&R as always! Kisses!**_

**Disclaimer: Only my overactive imagination belongs to me.**

Elliot opened his eyes to glance at the clock. Fifteen minutes until the alarm would go off. Fifteen minutes to hold the girl he'd fallen for. He wrapped his arms around her a little tighter and snuggled deeper into the down comforter.

"Are you awake?" she asked.

"Mhm. How'd you sleep?"

"Good," she answered.

Now that he was fully awake, Elliot noticed how tense she was.

"What's wrong, Liv?" he asked.

"Nothing!" she answered brightly. "Why would you think something's wrong?"

"Um, because you're my partner, my best friend and I've FINALLY had the extreme pleasure of seeing you naked. I know when something's wrong." He felt her resolve weaken a little.

"Do you think we made a mistake last night?" she asked.

"Nope. Do you?" he asked.

"I don't know, El. Your kids… Kathy…" she sighed.

"Olivia, honey. My kids are 22, 19, and 17. They know their old man has sex. And Kathy's my **EX** wife, so if she has a problem with it, that's just tough. Liv, I care about you. A LOT. And I've wanted this for a long time."

Olivia smiled. He couldn't see her face, but he knew she smiled. He could read her like a book.

"Me too," she agreed.

"Liv, I want you to know there hasn't been anyone since Kathy. And we probably had sex twice in the last year we were married. And Liv?" 

"Yeah?"

Elliot turned her in his arms so she was facing him.

"Having sex with her through 20 years of marriage and four kids will never compare to making love to you even one time," he said very seriously.

"That's very sweet," Olivia said tearing up. "But don't you worry at all?" she asked.

"Of course. I'm a parent. I worry about anything that affects my kids. But I also know this will be okay. I'd never hurt you Liv. And my kids adore you. This is going to be fine, I promise you," he said, dropping a kiss on her forehead.

"Can we work them in slowly?" she asked. "Like one day at a time?" she bit her bottom lip.

Elliot laughed. "Bummer. I was planning on telling them you had a shitty day yesterday and came over here to talk and ended up jumping my bones!"

Olivia smacked his shoulder. "That is NOT what happened!" she exclaimed.

"Sure it is!" Elliot gathered her to his chest.

"Is it? Well please, tell me more, Detective," Olivia rolled her eyes.

"Well, you came over and you were upset, and you said you'd feel better if I'd kiss you all over your body and if I'd make love to you all night. One thing led to another and here we are," he said, the patented Elliot Stabler grin exposing his dimples.

"Oh please! Nice try, Stabler! As I recall, you took advantage of my vulnerability," she teased.

"Oh really?" he asked.

"Mhm," she answered. "I had a terrible day and I came over here to talk to you and you kept trying to take my clothes off!" Olivia grinned. She loved her best friend. She loved the teasing banter of their relationship – it felt like they'd been together for years.

"Hmm. You're right. I did take advantage of you," Elliot agreed, teasingly.

"See!?" Olivia chided.

"So if I took advantage of you, then I guess it's up to me to deal with the kids and you shouldn't worry," he said, kissing her collarbone.

"And you're going to tell them what?" she asked, enjoying the slow torture he was putting her through.

"That you jumped my bones," Elliot answered.

Olivia burst into a fit of giggles. "I hate you," she said.

"No, you don't," Elliot emphasized his point by placing a tiny row of kisses down her stomach.

Olivia shivered. "Seriously, honey. Can we work them in slowly?"

"Whatever you want, baby. I want this to be as easy for you as possible."

"Okay. Thank you."

"Of course. Your happiness is important to me, Olivia. I hope you know that."

"I do. I love you, El."

Elliot smiled. He knew she meant it mostly in the "friends" sort of way, but he'd take it. She'd come around. He'd work at her until she cracked under the pressure of his love. "Right back atcha."

The alarm rang, interrupting their heart to heart.

"Dammit," Olivia groaned. She rolled to her side and sat up on the edge of the bed. Elliot kissed a trail down her spine.

"Don't go yet," he said.

"Babe, I don't want to. But I can't go to work in track pants and a sweatshirt," she smiled.

"Fine," Elliot pouted. Olivia laughed at him, laying there, naked, very much a grown man, pouting like a petulant child.

"Stabler, you're pathetic," she said, pulling on her sweatshirt and track pants.

"I know. Do you feel bad enough for me that you'll stay?" he stuck out his lip.

Olivia laughed again. "Uh, no. But. I will come back tonight if you want. And you'll see me all day at work."

"Yeah, but not naked. And yes, I do want you to come back tonight," Elliot said.

"Okay. I'll see you in a couple hours," Olivia said, slipping her feet into her running shoes.

Elliot pulled her back to him for a lingering kiss. "Oh man," he said as she pulled away at the end. "I'm not going to last all day."

Olivia patted his shoulder. "Be strong," she said.

"I'll try."

Olivia headed for the door of the apartment, stopping long enough to grab her keys off the kitchen table. Before she got the chance to turn the door handle, the door flew open, and Olivia found herself face to face with Lizzie, Elliot's 17-year-old daughter.

"Uh, is my dad here?" Lizzie asked lamely, the key to Elliot's apartment dangling from her fingertips.

So much for working them in slowly.

_**A/N: What do you think? Want more? Or is it okay as a one shot? R&R! Let me know! XOXO, Kinsey**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: So you guys liked it and want more!! That warms my heart! This is dedicated to my ever-faithful reviewer Rach who wants to see Liv explain herself out of this one. Enjoy – R&R! Kisses, Kinsey**_

Olivia commanded the earth to open and swallow her. She didn't know who was more uncomfortable, her or Lizzie.

"Uh, um," she stammered. Elliot apparently had heard Lizzie's voice and came to her rescue like he always did. He waltzed into the living room, Mr. Not-a-care-in-the-world, and gathered his daughter into a hug.

"Hey, babe, what's up?" he asked, almost as if Olivia wasn't standing there, mouth agape.

"Not much. I wanted you to read my paper for government so I thought I'd stop over," she eyeballed Olivia who was still frozen in place.

"Well of course. Let me see it," he asked. Lizzie fished the paper out of her backpack and handed it to Elliot.

He looked at Olivia and smiled. "Do you have a pen, Liv?" he asked. She wanted to die of embarrassment and he needed a writing stick?!

"Um, no, not on me," she replied. _But if I did I would use it to stab you in the jugular, Stabler_, she added mentally. She shot him a death glare. She was pretty sure he read her loud and clear.

"I'm going to take a look at this. Why don't you grab some cereal or something, Lizzie?" he asked.

"I'm gonna head out, Elliot," Olivia announced. She was going to kill him. She was going to have sex with him one more time, because why punish herself, but then? Elliot Stabler was a dead man.

"Okay, Liv – see you at work. Thanks for stopping!" Elliot said.

"Yeah. Sure," Olivia muttered, closing the door.

EOEOEOEO

Elliot finished reading Lizzie's paper and handed it back to her. "That's good, Liz! I just changed a couple things, but it looks great."

"Thanks. Dad?" she asked.

"Yeah, Liz?" Elliot picked her cereal bowl up off the coffee table and headed for the kitchen to put it in the dishwasher.

"Did you happen to notice that Olivia was here this morning?" she asked.

"Of course honey. Why?" he asked.

"Well, I don't know… I mean…" Lizzie stammered.

"Lizzie. Your mom and I are divorced baby," Elliot tried. Shit, this wasn't going to be as easy as he'd thought.

"I_ know_ Dad. And if you want to date Olivia, that's cool with me. But Dad? Don't treat me like the little girl who'd bring you a clean shirt and a toothbrush when you were working a long case. I'm seventeen, not seven," Lizzie explained.

"What do you mean, Lizzie?" he asked.

"DAD." She was using her Jesus-you're-a-moron voice. "You totally ignored Liv and pretended like she wasn't there!"

"That's not true. I asked her for a pen," Elliot said.

"_DAD! SHUT UP_! Do you even _KNOW_ how totally ridiculous that sounds?" Lizzie asked, rolling her eyes.

"Liz, I'm sorry. But you show up here, without calling, at six-_thirty_ in the morning, mind you, surprise the hell out of Olivia, not to mention _me_, what was I supposed to do? Liv and I just had a big talk about how we were going to work you guys into this slowly!"

Lizzie smiled and began to giggle at him.

"Are you finished with your little rant, Dad? God! You're such a _GUY _sometimes! And the reason I didn't call is because I have a frickin' _KEY_ and I didn't think your girlfriend would be sneaking out the front door! Poor Liv," she said.

"What? Why poor Liv?" Elliot asked.

"Nothing. It's just hard to date an idiot. I've done it," Lizzie explained.

"Oh thanks, dear," Elliot touseled her hair.

"And for the record," Lizzie stated, "I love Liv. So do your other three children. And we are all grown ups. So just be straight with us," she said.

"You got it Liz. I might as well tell you… since you're here…" Elliot trailed off. Lizzie stood at the door with her backpack slung over her shoulder looking at him expectantly.

"I'm in love with her, Lizzie. I'm in love with Olivia."

Lizzie laughed again. "Thanks for the newsflash, Pop. Glad it's only taken you ten years to figure it out. I was beginning to lose faith."

Elliot grinned at his daughter. "You're kinda mouthy, you know that?"

"I know. I learned from the master," she said.

"Get outta here. Have a good day, Liz. I love you."

"I love you too, Dad. Tell Liv I'm sorry about today. And I'm sorry that my father's a moron."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll tell her," Elliot said.

"Okay. Bye Daddy. Have a good day." Lizzie closed the door behind her and Elliot sank onto the couch. So much for working them in slowly. And if he knew his youngest daughter the gossip queen, all three of his other kids would know by noon. He glanced out the window behind him to the sidewalk below. Sure enough, there was Lizzie, already on her cell phone to one of her sisters he imagined.

EOEOEO

"You are God-damn KIDDING me!" Maureen Stabler took a sip of her coffee as she flipped through the patient's chart she was looking at.

"No, dude. And poor Liv was totally giving Dad the deer-in-the-headlights look," Lizzie couldn't help but laugh as she recounted her morning for her oldest sister.

"Oh lord. Well I'm glad they finally did something, even if it was just for a night," Maureen said wistfully.

"Yeah well. I'm pretty sure it's a little more permanent than that, Ree," Lizzie explained. "Dad admitted to me that he's in love with her."

"Oh really?" Maureen asked. "Well good for him!"

"I know! I explained to him that we are all old enough and mature enough to handle this like adults," Lizzie said.

"Well. Almost all of us, Maureen worried.

"What? Dickie can handle this! He loves Liv," Lizzie defended her twin.

"I'm not talking about Dickie, stupid. I'm talking about Mom," Maureen said.


End file.
